Putting the Pieces Together @ RunSouthBend

“I wanted to create something with a community feeling and started sharing stories, resources and things you should know if you are new to the area or new to running.”

Lisa Wolf, attorney, creator RunSouthBend

When you are an adult and move to a new city, it can be difficult to meet new friends. Many of us know, running, cycling, walking, triathlon and any team or training sport will offer a great community. But first, you have to find them.

Lisa Wolf, a South Bend attorney, admits she was a bit nervous when she moved to South Bend from Boston last April.

“In Boston, it’s hard not to be a runner,” said the 32-year-old who has run off and on since high school. “You see people running everywhere. There are great trails, like the Minuteman Bikeway, where you can run as far as you want in town without having to be on a road. It is real inspiring.”

Lisa, also once new to Boston, was part of a marathon training group and a neighborhood running group. Most of all, she realized the Boston running community publicized themselves passionately and efficiently. “They are organized. They made it easy to find out what was going on.”

Agreed. That’s to be expected there.

She had lived in South Bend before, during law school . . . and ran alone. But this April she found the Fleet Feet weekly runs, and she found RacePlayMichiana for news and a listing of races and events. Then she launched RunSouthBend, a social media-fueled weekly report of what’s happening for runners in the area.

“I wanted to create something with a community feeling and started sharing stories, resources and things you should know if you are new to the area or new to running.”

She “friended” Facebook-active runners randomly, learned about some of the area’s favorite events, discovered Michiana Runner’s Association and Two Rivers Running groups and found track workouts in Goshen.

“If someone mentions something during a run or on social media, I dig into it deeper and then share more.”

On her posts, running enthusiasts will be directed to resources for:

– Local running stores

– Trail running

– Running clubs

– News, stories and races/events

– And the social networking community of running bloggers.

Lisa uses the tools of the Boston trade—Instagram and Facebook—and at some point, hopes this running community will embrace MeetUp, an app used faithfully among the Boston running community.“My mission is to spread the word. There are so many good things happening in the running community here. Right now, it just feels a bit compartmentalized.”For example, she’s training for the Monumental Marathon in Indianapolis this November. Wouldn’t it be great to have a place—virtual or real—where others going from the community could share experiences . . . and even rides?

So runners, Like, Friend and Follow! Check out the posts, share, participate and maybe, just maybe, we can some day give Boston a run for its money!